About a hundred health professionals gathered Tuesday morning in front of the office of the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, in downtown Montreal, in the hope of speeding up negotiations between the government and the Interprofessional Health Federation of Quebec (FIQ).
“We won’t give up,” says Isabelle Roy. The clinical nurse went to Minister Dubé’s office on Tuesday alongside her colleagues, to encourage the minister to resolve the negotiation as quickly as possible. She continues to believe in a “fair and equitable” collective agreement.
The union, which represents some 85,000 nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists, called on a conciliator on December 19 in the hope of resolving the impasse in negotiations.
Nearly three months later, negotiations continue to advance, but there is still no agreement on the table. “There are many more meetings than a few weeks ago,” underlines the vice-president of the FIQ socio-political sector, Françoise Ramel. However, certain issues prevent reaching an agreement. This is particularly the case for salary, work-family balance and working conditions, explains Mme Ramel.
Members of the FIQ gathered Tuesday in front of Minister Dubé’s office to express their “impatience” and their “sense of urgency.” “It’s still the women who are left waiting. We remind Minister Dubé that this morning we are still here and that it is now our turn to settle,” declared Mr.me Ramel.
A safe ratio
Jennie Rhee, intensive care nurse at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, hopes that the upcoming agreement with the government will allow them to obtain safe care professional/patient ratios. When she started working as a nurse in the 1980s, she cared for an average of three patients. “Today it’s easily double that. In pediatrics, having six patients is a lot.”
Nurse Isabelle Roy agrees. “We often have nurses in hospitals or CHSLDs who have too high patient-nurse ratios. When there are two patients who are not doing well, we have to make priority choices and that obviously has more serious consequences for the patients. »
Mme Rhee also hopes to achieve a better work-life balance. “The nurses are tired, they are no longer capable. It’s difficult when we arrive home exhausted. The next day we have a day off, but we are so tired that we do absolutely nothing with our children,” says the woman who is also the president of the union of nursing and cardiorespiratory care professionals at the McGill University Health Center (MUHC). ).